Around the World in Eighty Days

Chapter XVI

In which Fix does not seem to understand in the least what is said to
him

TheRangoon—one of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company’s boats plying in the Chinese and Japanese seas—was a screw
steamer, built of iron, weighing about seventeen hundred and seventy
tons, and with engines of four hundred horse-power. She was as fast, but
not as well fitted up, as the Mongolia, and Aouda was not as
comfortably provided for on board of her as Phileas Fogg could have
wished. However, the trip from Calcutta to Hong Kong only comprised some
three thousand five hundred miles, occupying from ten to twelve days, and
the young woman was not difficult to please.

She constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitude.

During the first days of the journey Aouda became better acquainted with
her protector, and constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitude for
what he had done. The phlegmatic gentleman listened to her, apparently at
least, with coldness, neither his voice nor his manner betraying the
slightest emotion; but he seemed to be always on the watch that nothing
should be wanting to Aouda’s comfort. He visited her regularly each day
at certain hours, not so much to talk himself, as to sit and hear her
talk. He treated her with the strictest politeness, but with the
precision of an automaton, the movements of which had been arranged for
this purpose. Aouda did not quite know what to make of him, though
Passepartout had given her some hints of his master’s eccentricity, and
made her smile by telling her of the wager which was sending him round
the world. After all, she owed Phileas Fogg her life, and she always
regarded him through the exalting medium of her gratitude.

Aouda confirmed the Parsee guide’s narrative of her touching history. She
did, indeed, belong to the highest of the native races of India. Many of
the Parsee merchants have made great fortunes there by dealing in cotton;
and one of them, Sir Jametsee Jeejeebhoy, was made a baronet by the
English government. Aouda was a relative of this great man, and it was
his cousin, Jeejeeh, whom she hoped to join at Hong Kong. Whether she
would find a protector in him she could not tell; but Mr. Fogg essayed to
calm her anxieties, and to assure her that everything would be
mathematically—he used the very word—arranged. Aouda fastened her great
eyes, “clear as thee sacred lakes of the Himalaya,” upon him; but the
intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seem at all inclined to
throw himself into this lake.

The first few days of the voyage passed prosperously, amid favourable
weather and propitious winds, and they soon came in sight of the great
Andaman, the principal of the islands in the Bay of Bengal, with its
picturesque Saddle Peak, two thousand four hundred feet high, looming
above the waters. The steamer passed along near the shores, but the
savage Papuans, who are in the lowest scale of humanity, but are not, as
has been asserted, cannibals, did not make their appearance.

The panorama of the islands, as they steamed by them, was superb. Vast
forests of palms, arecs, bamboo, teakwood, of the gigantic mimosa, and
tree-like ferns covered the foreground, while behind, the graceful
outlines of the mountains were traced against the sky; and along the
coasts swarmed by thousands the precious swallows whose nests furnish a
luxurious dish to the tables of the Celestial Empire. The varied
landscape afforded by the Andaman Islands was soon passed, however, and
the Rangoon rapidly approached the Straits of Malacca, which gave
access to the China seas.

What was detective Fix, so unluckily drawn on from country to country,
doing all this while? He had managed to embark on the Rangoon at
Calcutta without being seen by Passepartout, after leaving orders that,
if the warrant should arrive, it should be forwarded to him at Hong Kong;
and he hoped to conceal his presence to the end of the voyage. It would
have been difficult to explain why he was on board without awakening
Passepartout’s suspicions, who thought him still at Bombay. But necessity
impelled him, nevertheless, to renew his acquaintance with the worthy
servant, as will be seen.

All the detective’s hopes and wishes were now centred on Hong Kong; for
the steamer’s stay at Singapore would be too brief to enable him to take
any steps there. The arrest must be made at Hong Kong, or the robber
would probably escape him for ever. Hong Kong was the last English ground
on which he would set foot; beyond, China, Japan, America offered to Fogg
an almost certain refuge. If the warrant should at last make its
appearance at Hong Kong, Fix could arrest him and give him into the hands
of the local police, and there would be no further trouble. But beyond
Hong Kong, a simple warrant would be of no avail; an extradition warrant
would be necessary, and that would result in delays and obstacles, of
which the rascal would take advantage to elude justice.

Fix thought over these probabilities during the long hours which he spent
in his cabin, and kept repeating to himself, “Now, either the warrant
will be at Hong Kong, in which case I shall arrest my man, or it will not
be there; and this time it is absolutely necessary that I should delay
his departure. I have failed at Bombay, and I have failed at Calcutta; if
I fail at Hong Kong, my reputation is lost: Cost what it may, I must
succeed! But how shall I prevent his departure, if that should turn out
to be my last resource?”

Fix made up his mind that, if worst came to worst, he would make a
confidant of Passepartout, and tell him what kind of a fellow his master
really was. That Passepartout was not Fogg’s accomplice, he was very
certain. The servant, enlightened by his disclosure, and afraid of being
himself implicated in the crime, would doubtless become an ally of the
detective. But this method was a dangerous one, only to be employed when
everything else had failed. A word from Passepartout to his master would
ruin all. The detective was therefore in a sore strait. But suddenly a
new idea struck him. The presence of Aouda on the Rangoon, in
company with Phileas Fogg, gave him new material for reflection.

Who was this woman? What combination of events had made her Fogg’s
travelling companion? They had evidently met somewhere between Bombay and
Calcutta; but where? Had they met accidentally, or had Fogg gone into the
interior purposely in quest of this charming damsel? Fix was fairly
puzzled. He asked himself whether there had not been a wicked elopement;
and this idea so impressed itself upon his mind that he determined to
make use of the supposed intrigue. Whether the young woman were married
or not, he would be able to create such difficulties for Mr. Fogg at Hong
Kong that he could not escape by paying any amount of money.

But could he even wait till they reached Hong Kong? Fogg had an
abominable way of jumping from one boat to another, and, before anything
could be effected, might get full under way again for Yokohama.

Fix decided that he must warn the English authorities, and signal the
Rangoon before her arrival. This was easy to do, since the steamer
stopped at Singapore, whence there is a telegraphic wire to Hong Kong. He
finally resolved, moreover, before acting more positively, to question
Passepartout. It would not be difficult to make him talk; and, as there
was no time to lose, Fix prepared to make himself known.

It was now the 30th of October, and on the following day the
Rangoon was due at Singapore.

Fix emerged from his cabin and went on deck. Passepartout was promenading
up and down in the forward part of the steamer. The detective rushed
forward with every appearance of extreme surprise, and exclaimed, “You
here, on the Rangoon?”

“What, Monsieur Fix, are you on board?” returned the really astonished
Passepartout, recognising his crony of the Mongolia. “Why, I left
you at Bombay, and here you are, on the way to Hong Kong! Are you going
round the world too?”

“Hum!” said Passepartout, who seemed for an instant perplexed. “But how
is it I have not seen you on board since we left Calcutta?”

“Oh, a trifle of sea-sickness—I’ve been staying in my berth. The Gulf of
Bengal does not agree with me as well as the Indian Ocean. And how is Mr.
Fogg?”

“As well and as punctual as ever, not a day behind time! But, Monsieur
Fix, you don’t know that we have a young lady with us.”

“A young lady?” replied the detective, not seeming to comprehend what was
said.

Passepartout thereupon recounted Aouda’s history, the affair at the
Bombay pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds, the
rescue, the arrest, and sentence of the Calcutta court, and the
restoration of Mr. Fogg and himself to liberty on bail. Fix, who was
familiar with the last events, seemed to be equally ignorant of all that
Passepartout related; and the later was charmed to find so interested a
listener.

“But does your master propose to carry this young woman to Europe?”

“Not at all. We are simply going to place her under the protection of one
of her relatives, a rich merchant at Hong Kong.”

“Nothing to be done there,” said Fix to himself, concealing his
disappointment. “A glass of gin, Mr. Passepartout?”

“Willingly, Monsieur Fix. We must at least have a friendly glass on board
the Rangoon.”